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Fasting biochemical parameters and their relationship to anthropometric measurements in childhood obesity
Insights
Obese children are not a metabolically uniform group. Metabolic differences emerge when analyzing subgroups based on insulin, triglyceride levels, and glucose tolerance, challenging previous assumptions about childhood obesity.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Metabolic Disorders
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing concern with potential metabolic implications.
- Understanding the metabolic profile of obese children is crucial for effective management.
- Previous studies suggest metabolic heterogeneity in pediatric obesity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate metabolic differences between obese and control children.
- To explore metabolic alterations within subgroups of obese children.
- To examine correlations between metabolic parameters and anthropometric measurements in pediatric obesity.
Main Methods:
- Measured fasting plasma levels of insulin, triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesterol, glycerol, glucose, lactate, and pyruvate.
- Performed intravenous glucose tolerance tests in both obese and control children.
- Analyzed data by dividing obese children into subgroups based on fasting insulin, triglyceride levels, and glucose tolerance.
Main Results:
- Obese children showed higher fasting immunoreactive insulin and triglyceride levels compared to controls.
- Metabolic alterations became more apparent when obese children were stratified into subgroups.
- Unexpected negative correlations were observed between cholesterol, free fatty acids, and indices of fatness in obese children.
Conclusions:
- Obese children (exogenous obesity) are not metabolically homogeneous.
- Subgroup analysis reveals distinct metabolic profiles within the obese pediatric population.
- The relationship between anthropometric measurements and plasma metabolites in obese children requires further investigation and remains controversial.
Abstract:
Fasting plasma immunoreactive insulin, triglyceride, free fatty acid, cholesterol, glycerol, blood glucose, lactate, pyruvate level, and lactate/pyruvate ratio were measured and an intravenous glucose tolerance test was done in obese and control children. The levels of most of the metabolites and the glucose tolerance were similar in the two groups except for the higher immunoreactive insulin and triglyceride levels in the obese group. Further metabolic alterations could be detected when the obese children were divided into subgroups on the basis of fasting insulin and triglyceride levels, and of glucose tolerance. Only three significant correlations were found between metabolic parameters and anthropometric measurements when the obese group was treated as a whole, but numerous other positive and negative correlations were detected in the subgroups. The most striking and unexpected finding was the negative correlation between cholesterol and free fatty acids and some indices of fatness in the whole obese group and in some subgroups. It is concluded that obese children ("exogenous obesity") cannot be regarded as a metabolically homogeneous group and the correlations between anthropometric parameters and plasma metabolites remain to be controversial.